


Night and Stars

by raininshadows



Category: Exalted
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-30
Updated: 2017-10-30
Packaged: 2019-01-26 13:09:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 916
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12558064
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/raininshadows/pseuds/raininshadows
Summary: An Abyssal goes to Yu-Shan.





	Night and Stars

**Author's Note:**

  * For [palmedfire](https://archiveofourown.org/users/palmedfire/gifts).



> Happy Halloween! I hope you like this fic!

The gate flared wide and bright for a moment, and it was only years of practice that kept Revealer from wincing at the sudden influx of light. When her vision cleared, there were two people standing where there had been only empty space moments before. Both of them were visibly unnerved by their surroundings, but the young woman was doing a better job of hiding it than her companion, whose gaze flickered from dark corner to darker corner like a scared rabbit. 

The woman met her eyes. She had bright yellow eyes, visible from even this distance - she had to be chosen by Mercury, then. "Are you the Abyssal called 'Revealer of Forgotten Promises to Eternity'?" she said, in clear but Southern-accented Old Realm.

Revealer nodded. "I am."

“Right, then. We’ve been sent to take you and your entourage through to Yu-Shan as the official ambassador of the Silver Prince. Is this everything?” The woman’s gesture took in both the nine zombies and the luggage they were carrying.

Revealer turned to survey the zombies who were coming along as her servants. It was only for the sake of appearances — she’d checked everything over and over to make sure it was satisfactory. She turned back to the Sidereals and nodded again. “It is.” 

“Okay. The lions know what’s happening, but it’ll be easier if there’s someone there to provide some reassurance, so Taran here” — the woman indicated her companion — “is going to be heading back through before we do. I’m supposed to stick with you. The zombies will just have to take care of themselves, although I hear they’re at least pretty good at following orders.” 

“They are.” Revealer was a bit surprised by how businesslike the Sidereal was being. She’d been under the impression that they tended to be more abstruse, prone to obfuscation and vagueness. This woman had all the subtlety of her Dusk Caste circlemate. The gate flared with light again, and Taran vanished. Revealer ordered the zombies to follow her in Seatongue, then curtsied to the woman. “Shall we, then?”

The woman beckoned her over to the gate. “You just have to walk through it, but it’ll help if I’m with you.” This time, she didn’t see the light as the gate activated; she was already on the other side, in a well-lit hallway, with three massive orichalcum lions staring at her. Taran’s hand was on one’s leg. 

The woman’s hand grabbed her arm immediately, and the woman said “This is her. The rest of her group will be through in a moment.”

“I don’t like her,” one of the lions rumbled. “She smells like death.”

“She seems familiar,” another lion said, in a somewhat higher-pitched voice. “An Eclipse caste, you said?”

“We’re called Moonshadow,” Revealer told him, “but my previous life was an Eclipse caste, yes. You may have known her.” The conversation was cut off by the first zombies appearing. They streamed through the gate for the next few minutes. The lion who had thought Revealer smelled like death grew increasingly visibly annoyed. Finally, the last one crossed through. “That’s everything,” Revealer said, not sure whether to say it to the Sidereals or the lions. The lion who’d seemed to recognize her and the one who hadn’t spoken padded over to the other end of the hallway, neatly dodging various zombies and their cargo, and said something to the gate at the other end. It opened and Taran darted through, presumably to talk to the lions she could see bits of on the other side. 

“We’re going to be taking a boat. Multiple, actually, because of the zombies,” the woman said. “We’re going to come out on the western side of Yu-Shan, but you’re going to be staying in the north up by the Charnel Yards, so it’s a couple hundred miles from here to there.” Some of Revealer’s surprise must have shown, because she continued with “Yu-Shan’s about the size of the Blessed Isle. It’s a lot easier to get around, though.” 

When Revealer and the woman crossed through the second gate, Taran was busy arguing with the captain of a boat on a shimmering canal. Revealer didn’t manage to overhear much of the argument before the woman turned to her, said “Excuse me,” and stepped over to join the conversation. She pulled a piece of paper with a glittering golden seal on it out of her pocket and brandished it at the captain; he took it and squinted at it.

“One of you has to stay with them,” he said finally. 

“Of course,” the woman said. “Two groups — I’ll stay with her, and Taran will stay with the rest of the zombies.” 

Taran muttered something about spending the trip with the pretty girl, which the woman ignored. 

Loading their group took surprisingly little time and attracted surprisingly little attention. Once they were underway, Revealer commented on it to the woman. “Yeah, we timed it to be quiet,” the woman said. “It’s the middle of the night right now — not that you can really tell, because the sky depends on who’s ahead in the Games at the moment, but the Golden Barque is moving east. Nobody’s really out and about, they’re either at work or sleeping.” 

Revealer nodded. “It’s not at all related,” she admitted, “but I haven’t had the opportunity to learn your name.” 

The woman blinked. “Really? Thought I remembered to tell you. I’m Aerin.” 

“It’s been a pleasure meeting you, Aerin,” Revealer said, smiling. 

“Likewise,” Aerin said.


End file.
